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10mm KKM Gen 5

1495 Views 44 Replies 21 Participants Last post by  MinervaDoe, 
Hyper J


Thoughts on the new KKM barrel for the Gen 5 10mm’s? Is it necessary? Will it run smoother? Will the tighter chamber cause malfunctions? Is stainless steel a game changer?

GEN 5 Glock 20 Match 10MM 4.6″OAL | KKM

These are for the Gen 5 Glock 20 only Non-threaded barrel length 4.6" with a maximum length option of 7.2". If you would like a custom barrel length between these, just enter it into the optional note section on the checkout screen. We read every note and there is not an extra charge for
kkmprecision.com
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ActanonVerba70
OEM is your friend. I don't believe the KKM barrel would make a significant difference. YMMV

Description of gen 5 barrel:
  • GLOCK Marksman Barrel (GMB) features a more aggressive polygonal rifling with a target-style crown and tighter chamber specs, which delivers improved accuracy.
However, to each his/her own. :)
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Danke Glock
KKM makes great barrels, but virtually every GLOCK I’ve shot has been capable of 2”-2.75“ groups at 25 yards, and with several of them I was able to shoot a sub-2” group. I didn’t use a rest, so I can’t say exactly what the mechanical accuracy is of GLOCK, but GLOCK barrels perform well. If you want to shoot non-jacketed lead bullets, or if you need a threaded barrel, then a replacement barrel makes sense, but accuracy isn’t a reason I’d replace a GLOCK barrel. A match barrel will only deliver match performance if it’s match fit.
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Danke Glock said:
KKM makes great barrels, but virtually every GLOCK I’ve shot has been capable of 2”-2.75“ groups at 25 yards, and with several of them I was able to shoot a sub-2” groups. I didn’t use a rest, so I can’t say exactly what the mechanical accuracy is of GLOCK, but GLOCK barrels perform well. If you want to shoot non-jacketed lead bullets, or if you need a threaded barrel, then a replacement barrel makes sense, but accuracy isn’t a reason I’d replace a GLOCK barrel. A match barrel will only deliver match performance if it’s match fit.
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my glock 40 was not a good shooter. worst shooting glock that i've owned. put in a lone wolf barrel & it shot way better. maybe i got a glock lemon.
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Danke Glock
I built a G34 with a Zev Slide and used a KKM barrel for the build. KKM and Bar-Sto are the two barrels that I would use if I needed an aftermarket barrel. I just wouldn’t buy one if I had a perfectly good GLOCK barrel.
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RGP
I'd just buy the gun and shoot it as is especially if it's a Gen 5 but if you'd like to buy unnecessary parts plenty of people are ready to swindle you out of your money and they'll give you good reasons to buy their product.
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Danke Glock
billy b said:
my glock 40 was not a good shooter. worst shooting glock that i've owned. put in a lone wolf barrel & it shot way better. maybe i got a glock lemon.
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What kind of groups were you getting? I haven’t owned a GLOCK chambered in 10mm. I’ve owned all of the offerings in 9mm except the 19X, all of the 40S&W except the G24, and all of the 45ACP except for the G36 and 30S. I also shot a lot of .357 SIG when it came out, but never bought them or the 45 GAP. Sorry you experienced poor performance with your barrel.

[Edit] boilergonzo noted an issue with the GLOCK chambered in 10mm, perhaps it’s unique to that caliber. It’s an issue I wasn’t aware existed.
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Venicethemenace
It looks cool, so I say you buy it !
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Matteo1371
I’ve always seen improvement when using a KKM over the OEM.
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boilergonzo
I would love to see someone document the 10mm and Glock OEM barrels specifically for the Gen5.

For prior Glock 10mm guns, it has been fairly widely documented (see the Hickock45 video for added info) that the heaviest cast bullets out of prior Glock 10mm barrels would sometimes not stabilize and tumble (keyhole the target). This has been demonstrated by many forum members. I have a KKM barrel for my Gen 4 10mm for that reason (heaviest Buffalo Bore or Underwood cast bullets for carrying in black bear country).

I am curious if the Marksman barrel (which adds a hint of rifling to the traditional polygonal barrel) can stabilize ALL 10mm rounds (even the heaviest ones). It would be interesting to know.

For now, I will absolutely stay with my KKM in my older Glock 20sf because I KNOW the OEM barrel can fail to stabilize some rounds. My OEM barrel seemed to work most of the time, but was clearly on the edge because I did get a significant number of bullets that wobbled. I have never seen that with the KKM (traditional rifling). But if I were getting a Gen5 I would want to learn more about the barrel and how it differes from prior OEM barrels. It may be perfectly fine now. I just don't know.

But that is a nice looking barrel, if cosmetics matter at all! As far as accuracy, so long as the bullets were both spun fast enough to be stabilized out of each barrel type, I doubt I could tell the difference.
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warbow150
I had a KKM in my Gen3 20 SF, it was my duty gun for ten years or so. They’re excellent barrels, but in truth the only reason I had mine was for hard cast lead when in bear country Alaska. No difference in accuracy or reliability between the KKM and OEM, and I shot many thousands of rounds through the gun.

If you want a drop in aftermarket barrel I don’t think you can do any better than KKM, but unless you plan to shoot lead there’s no reason to buy one.
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jazzsax8
The big difference is a hot load in the KKM swells the case head to about .428. In the Glock its .434. If you handload and this brass is not cheap at .16+ per piece which barrel do you think will help the brass last longer? The other thing I like about the KKM is now you can put a 6 or 7" in your 20 to substantially increase the velocity. I would not get one in stock length. Add a red dot and you now have a pistol that will cover more bases than it used to. I do not have the Gen 5 but the Gen 3 and even got a super nice 6" slide for the open sight accuracy benefit like owning a 40.
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MinervaDoe
I put a BarSto drop in barrel in my Glock 20 SF and was really impressed by its accuracy. Then one day just for fun, I plopped my stock Glock barrel back in and compared them at fifteen yards. The stock barrel put up tighter groups. Good enough for me. Now I have an aftermarket barrel if I want to shoot lead bullets through the gun. But the stock barrel stays in the gun.
And now, from the Don't Believe Everything That You Hear on the Internet file: Here's Tom Hanks shooting a tank with a 10mm.
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Matteo1371
jazzsax8 said:
The big difference is a hot load in the KKM swells the case head to about .428. In the Glock its .434. If you handload and this brass is not cheap at .16+ per piece which barrel do you think will help the brass last longer? The other thing I like about the KKM is now you can put a 6 or 7" in your 20 to substantially increase the velocity. I would not get one in stock length. Add a red dot and you now have a pistol that will cover more bases than it used to. I do not have the Gen 5 but the Gen 3 and even got a super nice 6" slide for the open sight accuracy benefit like owning a 40.
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Yeah resizing is noticeably easier with the KKM.
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S
Stick with the OEM Glock barrel. You and your wallet will thank me later.
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Borg Warner
In my opinion, other than Bar-sto, KKM makes best aftermarket barrels. But will it run Smoother? Probably not. Will it be more accurate than the Glock factory barrel? Maybe, but it depends on the individual barrel. Some Glock factory barrels are more accurate than others and even some KKM barrels are more accurate than others, but the KKM barrels generally have closer tolerances all the way around.

Will the tight chamber cause malfunctions? Maybe or maybe not, and it can depend on the ammo. Specifically a few years ago, and I don't know this if this is still true, Underwood ammo would not always pass the plunk test in Lone Wolf barrels and LW used to offer to polish the chambers for free if you had that problem, and KKM might do that for you as well.

I opted to have my own gunsmith polish my chamber but not remove much material so that the chamber remained tight. But then I continued to do a plunk test on every 20 round box of 220 grain hardcast that I bought for Bear defense in western Montana where there are Grizzly's, and usually only 1 or two rounds would not drop easily in the barrel's chamber and I would mark the primers of those rounds and put them aside for practice ammo, but they never failed to feed or eject when actually being fired in the gun because even if extraction was somewhat difficult, the Glock extractor gets a lot of purchase on the rim and is spring loaded so there's never a problem.

I originally bought the aftermarket barrel because I thought you couldn't shoot cast bullets out of a Glock barrel but it turns out that you can as long as tou clean your barrel after shooting cast bullets. The only reason Glock says it will void the warranty is because they KNOW that Glock owners are lazy bums who HATE to clean their guns and will let leading build up to the point where it will cause an over pressure situation.

Another thing as far as accuracy goes, the the most accurate barrel in the world will not produce the best accuracy in a semi-auto unless it's fitted to the gun so even a high quality drop-in barrel isn't going to produce as good accuracy as a semi-fitted barrel. I know Barsto offers both drop in and semi-fit and Maybe KKM does too.

My gunsmith got a a Glock 21 Barsto barrel in a trade that had been fitted to a different gun but it produced excellent accuracy whne he put it in his gun.
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RGP
Borg Warner said:
I originally bought the aftermarket barrel because I thought you couldn't shoot cast bullets out of a Glock barrel but it turns out that you can as long as tou clean your barrel after shooting cast bullets.
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This is why I thought I "needed" a KKM barrel for Glock #1 and I had the barrel ordered even before I owned the gun. I wish I'd just taken the gun out of the box and used it as is because the aftermarket parts that people told me I "needed" have since all come off and the gun is now all OEM except for the sights.

The primary benefit of most aftermarket parts is that they lighten your wallet.
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Hyper J
jazzsax8 said:
The big difference is a hot load in the KKM swells the case head to about .428. In the Glock its .434. If you handload and this brass is not cheap at .16+ per piece which barrel do you think will help the brass last longer? The other thing I like about the KKM is now you can put a 6 or 7" in your 20 to substantially increase the velocity. I would not get one in stock length. Add a red dot and you now have a pistol that will cover more bases than it used to. I do not have the Gen 5 but the Gen 3 and even got a super nice 6" slide for the open sight accuracy benefit like owning a 40.
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Doesn’t that look strange? Big barrel sticking out?
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Borg Warner
RGP said:
This is why I thought I "needed" a KKM barrel for Glock #1 and I had the barrel ordered even before I owned the gun. I wish I'd just taken the gun out of the box and used it as is because the aftermarket parts that people told me I "needed" have since all come off and the gun is now all OEM except for the sights.

The primary benefit of most aftermarket parts is that they lighten your wallet.
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I don't regret buying the aftermarket barrel because I'm happy with it and it's been 100% reliable and it's just a hair more accurate than the factory barrel and I get a little more velocity out of it because it was originally a 6 inch barrel but I cut it down to 5 inches so it's faster out of the holster and on target as a bear defense gun

But another aftermarket barrel that I bought based on what people told me I needed before I found out that I didn't, was another 6 inch barrel, but this time it was a 40 caliber barrel that I thought that I needed to shoot 40 S&W ammo out of a 10mm Glock.

But then after shooting 40 out of the official 40 caliber barrel and shooting the same ammo out of both the factory barrel and the Lone Wolf 5 inch barrel and seeing absolutely NO difference in either accuracy ore reliability, I stopped bothering changing barrels to shoot 40 S&W out of my 10mm Glock.

And while the 6 inch conversion barrel did give me a little more velocity with factory 40 S&W ammo, I could just as easily reload 40 S&W ammo with the bullet seated out to near 10mm overall length and with the extra powder space, load the 40 up to 10mm velocities which was also a way of doing more shooting with cheaper 40 S&W brass. 🤩
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Danke Glock said:
What kind of groups were you getting? I haven’t owned a GLOCK chambered in 10mm. I’ve owned all of the offerings in 9mm except the 19X, all of the 40S&W except the G24, and all of the 45ACP except for the G36 and 30S. I also shot a lot of .357 SIG when it came out, but never bought them or the 45 GAP. Sorry you experienced poor performance with your barrel.

[Edit] boilergonzo noted an issue with the GLOCK chambered in 10mm, perhaps it’s unique to that caliber. It’s an issue I wasn’t aware existed.
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wasn't so much as groups, as this. first round out of every group shot 4 to 5'' low, every time. i did a test one day. locked slide back a loaded 1 round & let slide go into battery. shot a 5 shot group doing that. smallest group 40 ever shot. so, it would put first round same place every time.
with lone wolf barrel, problem was solved. i got 40 to hunt deer with. as long as i would have shot only 1 round it would have been OK. BTY, i sold the 40 but still have the alpha wolf barrel for a 20 or 40.
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